Feeling the bite
Thursday, May 21 2009
I pay $440 a month for my health insurance via COBRA. This is, for me, a lot of money – more than a quarter of the pay of my part-time job. I was moved to this job – not by choice, not for any cause – by my employer last September.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the government will pay up to 65% of COBRA premiums; if you’re on COBRA, you can read about it here. It’s the one good thing the ARRA does, as far as I can tell. For unemployed folks looking to keep their health insurance, this must be a god-send. I hope everyone who can is taking advantage of this program.
I’m technically “employed” – but just barely, so I would greatly appreciate help with my COBRA premiums. Here’s the catch: they only pay if you’re not eligible for other group insurance. And my part-time job makes me eligible for a bare-bones insurance plan that doesn’t cover my major medical expenses. But that crappy little plan is enough to disqualify me from getting COBRA assistance. And meanwhile the COBRA administrators are doing everything they can to get rid of me.
So to my employer: thank you for creating one hell of a tar baby. I don’t know how much time the evil geniuses in your HR department spent coming up with this plan, but trust me that every moment was worth it in terms of sheer horribleness.
